Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Butler County, Kansas, has about 69,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Butler County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and three campus, state or other agencies. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Butler County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Butler County public records, Kansas arrest records, Kansas inmate search and Kansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Butler County
The Butler County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Butler County. It reported 884 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside six of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Andover, 17,000 residents: 186 arrests reported for 2024.
- El Dorado, 12,694 residents: 503 arrests reported for 2025.
- Augusta, 9,103 residents: 313 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rose Hill, 4,290 residents: 122 arrests reported for 2025.
- Benton, 930 residents: 10 arrests reported for 2022.
- Leon, 649 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2019.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Butler County: Butler Community College (campus police); the Bluestem Unified School District and the El Dorado School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Butler County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Butler County Sheriff's Office: 884 for 2025, 1,053 for 2024, 1,016 for 2023, 965 for 2022, 893 for 2021 and 632 for 2020.
- El Dorado: 503 for 2025, 477 for 2024, 410 for 2023, 435 for 2022, 290 for 2021 and 285 for 2020.
- Augusta: 313 for 2025, 348 for 2024, 363 for 2023, 290 for 2022, 224 for 2021 and 243 for 2020.
- Rose Hill: 122 for 2025, 50 for 2024, 54 for 2023, 36 for 2021, 31 for 2020 and 38 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Andover: 186 for 2024, 166 for 2022, 148 for 2021, 161 for 2020 and 185 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Benton: 10 for 2022, 10 for 2020 and 7 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Leon: 3 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,822 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,822 in 2025 against 1,928 in 2024, down 5.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 952 arrests, against 1,000 in the same months of 2025.
Andover and Benton reported only part of 2025 (6 months and 8 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Butler County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Butler County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 200 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 207 beds, and it ran at 98 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Butler County Sheriff's Office at butlersheriff.org/jail-facilities (page title: Jail Facilities | Butler County Sheriff’s Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Kansas Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.ks.gov/@@search?SearchableText=inmate+search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Butler County
An arrest in Butler County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: Kansas District Court Public Access Portal, the Kansas courts' statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bucoks.gov/166/Attorneys-Office, phone (316) 600-5248).
Kansas is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can order a name-based criminal history record check online, through the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Butler County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Kansas Open Records Act the agency must answer within 3 business days, and it may charge staff time and copying.
- An arrest by the Butler County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Andover, El Dorado, Augusta, Rose Hill, Benton or Leon: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Butler Community College, the Bluestem Unified School District or the El Dorado School District: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (316) 600-5248, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bucoks.gov (page title: REQUEST FOR COPIES OF OPEN RECORDS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Butler County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the 13 cities in Butler County: Andover, El Dorado, Augusta, Rose Hill, Benton and Leon. Douglass, Towanda, Whitewater, Potwin, Elbing, Cassoday and Latham have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Butler County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Butler County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Butler County each year?
The Butler County Sheriff's Office reported 884 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,822 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Butler County?
Ask the Butler County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at butlersheriff.org/jail-facilities.
Where are people arrested in Butler County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Butler County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Butler County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation: anyone can order a name-based criminal history record check online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Kansas Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Butler County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Butler County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Kansas Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bucoks.gov.
Is this the official Butler County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.